Nicolaes Petter

Klare Onderrichtinge der Voortreffelijke Worstel-Konst

[Clear Education in the Magnificent Art of Wrestling]
Written 1674

English translation by Eli Steenput

The First Part

No. 1 On the breast-push

When A wants to push or punch B on the chest, B can move aside a little to make A miss him.
Having missed, A will stumble forward, which allows B to grip A behind the neck and push
down, forcing A to fall forward.
 2. Breast-push in another way

A pushes B, B receives the push so that, when it comes, B throws [literally, 'slings'] his
left or right leg before [or 'around' as alternative translation, but that doesn't match the plate]
the left or right leg of A, and pushes with the left hand down on the right arm of A, and
B grasps with the right hand the seat pf A's pants, so A is forced to fall over the leg that B
has advanced.

3. In another way

A pushes B, B seeing this, grabs the right arm of A with his left hand under the armpit, and with
his right hand grabs the left wrist of A, and quickly strikes up [literally, 'around'] the right leg of
A with his left, forcing him to fall backwards.
 4. In another way

A tries to push or hit B, B grabs the wrist of A and with exceptional force tries to twist his arm.
(In this plate we can assume B parried the punch of A then simultaneously grabs the wrist and
twists it going downward)

5.

To counter the previous, A moves (turns) under B's arm in an attempt to get away ['seeking to
get loose'].
 6.
During the previous, as A is trying to move under his arm, B immediately grasps with both
hands, the hand of A which he had previously gripped at the wrist with his left hand, and forces
it behind the back of A, which gives B the opportunity to break A's hand.

7. A counter for A

A steps backwards and places his right leg around the right leg of B, after which he leans
backwards, so both will have to fall, and A can get out of the hold. (Looking at the plate we can
assume A steps between the legs of B and places his right leg behind B's right leg and lifts it)
 8.

So they are fallen, because of the leg of A around (behind) the leg of B.

9.

The one that rises first has the advantage, that he can grab the other by the neck (collar) with the
left hand, and by the pants with the right hand, and so force him to walk forward.
 10.

As B did the previous, so here A has countered by throwing his right hand back and grabbing
the right wrist of B, turning around under his arm.

11.

Having turned under B's arm, A pulls B's arm down, places his left foot on the back of B's knee,
and pushes him with his head, so he must fall backward as shown in the next plate.
 12.

Thus being thrown, and A being on top of B, grabs his throat with the left hand, keeping the
right arm pinned against his breast [with his left forearm]. With the right hand A holds the left
hand of B to the ground, holds his legs with his own, so B is prevented from getting up, and A,
thus being positioned, can give B, without obstacle, with the side of his head, as many blows to
the face of B as he desires.

The Second Part

No. 1. On the Breast-Push

As in the beginning of the first part A pushes B with one hand, so in this part B will give the
push on the breast of C with both hands, and places his left foot on the right foot of C. C
immediately grasps B's arms or sleeves close to the armpits.
 2.

C having thus gripped B, places his left foot on the middle of B's body.

3.

Having placed his left foot thus, C throws himself backwards, such that B, being held under the
arms, and with the foot of C on his body, is forced to fall over C.
 4.

But if this technique ['greep'] used by C is known to B, feeling that C wants to fall, so B strikes
his arms loose from C going over and outside C's, and grasps the foot of C, which was placed in
the middle of his body, and holds it with his right hand at the toes and with his left hand at the
heel of C, and so twists the foot of C as if he wants to break it to pieces, which will cause
considerable pain and helplessness to C. (The counter will cause C to fall as seen in the pic)

5.

But against the previous we can here clearly see the counter for C, when B is, as was previously
seen, twisting the leg of C. To counter this twisting, C kicks his right leg on the left arm of B
with such force that B loses hold with his left hand, but now B saves himself by dropping down
on C and grasping C by the throat, and forces the left leg of C, of which he previously twisted
the foot, over to the inside, and grabbing with the left hand the right arm of C, so C is made
powerless.
 6.

C can however counter thus, by kicking the left foot of B with his right leg, and twisting his
right hand free against B's thumb, so that B is forced to fall. As B falls, C grabs him by the hair
and so throws him to the ground.

The Third Part

On the middle grip
After the breast-push follows the middle [or waist] grip, which is shown here as follows.

1.

C grips D with both hands around the middle. D being thus grasped by C, places his left hand
on the back of C's arm, and placing his right hand on C's face with the thumb under the nose, D
forces the head of C backwards, and throws his right leg around the left leg of C.
 2.

Against the previous, C can counter by throwing his left hand inside over D's arm, and turning it
aside, can free his face while D maintains his hold on the right arm of C.

3.

As D is now holding C by the arm, D twists his right hand free, and turns around and behind the
right arm of C, forcing C to advance by pressing his elbow against the weak part of C's back,
thus controlling his arm.
 4.
C's arm does not stay controlled for long, if he turns a little, and throws his right arm over and
around the left hand of D, locking it close against his body, and by then turning with the entire
body, it can happen that D's hand would be broken.

5.

To prevent his left hand, which is now so twisted, from being broken, D grasps with the right
hand the right wrist of C, and with the assistance of his now freed left hand, turns around,
holding on to C's hand with both hands. In this turn D brings C's right arm on his left shoulder,
pulls forward with all his strength, which causes C much pain, and offers D ample opportunity
to break C's arm.
 6.

This opportunity is taken from D when C puts his left hand on D's left arm, and places his right
knee on the lower back of D, thus forcing him to let go of C's arm.

7.

This does not cause D to lose courage; having let go the right arm of C, he grabs it again with
his right hand, and turns around, twisting with both hands the hand or arm of C, pulling it
towards him with the right hand, and placing his left hand on C's shoulder, pushes him forward,
forcing him to fall.(We can assume D twisted the right wrist of C using his right hand as shown)
 The Fourth Part
No. 1. On the Hair-Pulls

This shall show us nothing else than how these grips are begun, with D grasping the hair of E
between his fingers and twisting it around them, having extended his arms inside between the
arms of E.

2.

Then D pulls E backwards by the hair, turning him around, placing his elbow on his spine,
which allows him to strike E on the face from behind with his other hand.
 3.

E being inconvenienced thus, still being held by the hair, D [It is not completely clear from the
text who does the turning, but E already has his back towards D] turns around so that D and E
are back to back, D then places his behind against the behind of E, and pulls him with great
force, as a result of which E will fall over the head of D.

4.

E being thus overturned and thrown, does not stay down, but standing up, grasps D behind the
sleeve or arm, and grasps with the right hand the right wrist of D, forcing this grasped arm of D
inwards, and places his left foot on the back of the right knee of D, thus forcing him to fall.
 The Fifth Part
On techniques wherein one's strength is used to defeat the other

No. 1.
E grips F under the arms, and F grips E inside his arms, in this situation E appears to have the
advantage.

2.

But F strikes with his right arm on the inside of E's left arm, breaking his hold, and his hold
being broken, lets go with his left arm as well, and brings it in front against his body, pinning
the right hand of E with his left arm. Then he turns away a little, so the hand of E is squeezed,
and F has the opportunity to break E's hand. As the plate shows, he suspects a legsweep from E.
 3.

For this reason he lets go of F's arm, and turns around completely, through which he achieves
that E will not be able to escape a blow to the neck, although E grasps the pants of F with his
right hand.

4.

E is not too proud to bend forward under the blow of F, and F, striking with full power to the
neck of E, and missing this because of E's bowing, strikes himself down through his own force.
 5.

Thus falling, F supports himself on the right hand, with which he had wanted to strike, and thus
supported he quickly places the left knee to E's hindquarters, grips with his left hand the other's
left foot, and pushes him over with this knee.

The Sixth Part

No. 1. Of Two Breast-Holds

The first breast-hold is with F grasping G on the breast, and G grasping him with the left hand
under the arm above the elbow.
 2.

But F having thus gripped G, G slaps his right hand on the right hand of F, and twists this hand
until F lets go of his breast, G now having his breast freed, twists the right arm of F completely
around with his right hand, placing his left hand on the back of this same arm, thus forcing him
down.

The Seventh Part

On the Breast-Holds in another way

1.

H grasps G on the breast, G strikes with his left hand the hand of H loose from inside his arm,
and grasps with the right hand behind the sleeve of this arm that was struck loose, and so this
hand is removed from his breast.
 2.

H brings his left hand inside his arm that was struck loose, and turns away a little, so he now
stands partly behind G. Having taken this strong position, H can force G to fall forward or
otherwise as pleases him.

3.

G realizing that he must fall forward, strikes up the left leg of H with his right leg, so the lock
by H's hand looses its power, and is instead caught by G in the bend of his right arm. H being
thus controlled is in serious danger of having his squeezed hand broken.
 4.

To avert this imminent disaster, G gives H such a push with his leg, that he can quickly grasp G
outside his arm, with his right hand on top of G's arm and his left hand under his elbow, thus
forcing him backward. In this way the legsweep by G, that would have dropped H, is
neutralized.

The Eighth Part

No. 1. On the Fist-Punch

H and J both have assumed postures to punch each other with the fists, inside the arms, and
standing thus, (though this is not shown on the plate) one could give the other a leg-strike [the
meaning here might be a sweep as well as a kick] so that the one receiving that strike would
have to fall.
 2.

H punches J, but J seeing this bends down, so that H punches himself off balance, and at this
point J grasps the right foot of H, to throw him.

[Note: there is a discontinuity between plate 2 and plate 3 (note the hand with which J grasps
the foot of H), the most likely explanation being that plate 2 was accidentally mirrored, and the
text was changed to match it (as there is no contradiction between plate and text). The
"corrected" sequence with the mirrored plate is shown below.]
 3.

H feeling himself fall, pushes J with his right knee against the thigh, so J is also forced to fall.
In this fall H also tries to grip the left leg of J, but is unsuccessful.

4.

H and J having both stood up again, now as if to punch outside the arms, so H first punches J,
who at once grasps the striking arm behind the shoulder with his right hand, and with the left
hand J grasps the right leg of H, forcing him to fall. This throw by J can be performed in
another way, as seen in the next plate.
 5.

J throws H, holding the arm he grasped, and pulling or pushing him around a little, grasps his
left shoulder with the left hand, places his left knee on his back, and so bends him backwards,
forcing him to fall.

6.

To avoid this throw, as J has placed his knee on the back of H (as shown on the previous plate),
so H must, by twisting his shoulders, free himself so he can grasp one or the other hand of J,
whichever has released its grip, and holding this (on the plate it is the left hand), turns it behind
the back of J, and placing his other hand on the twisted arm, H can throw J, or at least force
him to fall.
 The Ninth Part
How someone, being in a fight with another, can be carried off.

No. 1.

J and K are ready to come to grips, K threatens J with a punch, then J grasps with his right
hand the left wrist of K, bends down and puts his left hand behind the knee of K, and pulling
the left arm of K over his shoulder, he can carry him to wherever he wants him.

2.

If K doesn't see it coming, he will be lifted on J's shoulder, and he can be carried of easily, even
if he is bigger and heavier than J.
 3.

If K knows this trick, he will push down on the head of J, making it impossible for J to lift him.

4.

J feeling that is head is pushed down, pulls the left hand of K to the outside, and pulling back
his head, lifts with his left hand the left leg of K, and throws him on the back.
 The Tenth Part
On Throat Holds.
These grips are handled entirely different from the breast-grips, which were dealt with in
the Sixth Part.

The first Throat-hold.

K grips L by the throat, and L, throwing off his hat, turns over his head to the outside, under the
arm of K, so the hand of K is twisted such that he is unable, despite great pain, to apply force
with it.

The second Throat-hold.

K grips L by the throat with the right hand, threatening to strike L with the left hand, feeling
this, L throws up both arms, and strikes the same on the upper part of K's arm, forcing him to
release his hold.
 The third Throat-hold.

K grips the throat of L, as in the previous plate. L again joins both hands, and strikes sideways
against the elbow of K, breaking his hold.

The fourth Throat-Hold.

K again has L by the throat, who grasps K's attacking arm with both hands, placing the right
hand on K's wrist, and the left hand behind the elbow, and bends the arm to the inside [it's not
clear from the text who this arm belongs to, but I believe it to be K's] in such a way that it
becomes almost impossible for K to free his hand. If L succeeds in breaking the grip of K, L
will place this loose hand of K against his own breast, and sweeps under K's foot with his leg,
or strikes K's manhood with his knee, which could inconvenience him considerably.
 The Eleventh Part
On the defence against a knife being drawn.

The unreasonable and careless villains, whose mind cannot be put to reason by any means,
often resort to the greatest danger. No fight even the smallest ones, they think, cannot be
fought without a knife, which hides a great danger. The peace loving man is able to guard
against this as follows:

1.

M here kicks L with his left foot first, and then punches his face with his right fist. (Here
the text and drawing don't seem to match; M is standing on L's foot with his right. From
what follows the idea here is probably to act decisively before L is able to draw the knife)
 2.

L reaches for his pocket to get his knife and draw it; thus withdrawing his right hand from his
pocket, holding the knife with it, M will insert his left hand under L's arm while he is
withdrawing his hand from his pocket, and twists with his arm the other's arm backwards,
which renders him powerless to draw his knife.

3.

In case L is faster in getting out his knife, then M is able to prevent it in the manner
described above, and he consequently is about to draw it, so M grasps the right wrist of L
with his right hand and with his left hand a little higher on his arm, so he can completely
twist L's arm.
 4.

M here completely twists L's arm and places it on his shoulder.

5.

To break the hand in which L is holding the knife, M brings the arm over his head to his
other shoulder, where he can break it more surely (could mean the position is more secure,
or makes it easier to break the arm or both).
 6.

M can also, from holding L's arm as shown in No. 3, force it on L's back, and put his left foot
on the back of L's knee.

7.

M having placed his left foot on the back of L's knee, pulls the arm he is holding a little
higher towards himself, and forces L to drop forward, placing then the left knee on his
lower back, and pulling the arm even higher, L is rendered completely powerless.
 8.

Again from the third plate, M can, with his right hand on the right wrist of L, and his left
hand a bit higher on his arm, force L's hand towards his own chest, and simultaneously
striking the right leg from underneath him with his left foot, throw L backwards, and
following through, can make L wound himself with his own knife.

9.

If L, having drawn his knife, wants to cut at M from above, so M will grab him at the
wrist with his left hand, and at the same time grabbing him under the elbow with the right
hand, he can twist the arm outwards, and so render L helpless.
 10.

Again, L wants to cut from above, so M can, from a solid stance, kick with either leg
under the joint of L's hand (there is no apparent reason for this rather curious term for the
wrist in this instance), sending the knife flying from his hand.
 The Twelfth Part
No. 1. On running with the head against someone,
and throwing him over the head.

If M and N are facing each other in position, M can lower his head and by running at
N butt him powerfully in the stomach, throwing him flat on his back: but N, perceiving
his intention, turns aside a little, so M misses, and N has the opportunity to place his left
hand on M's neck and grabbing his pants with the right hand, pushing him forward and
makes him fall.

2.

If M runs at N with his head lowered, he can drop on one knee, at the same time grabbing
him strongly with both hands behind the knees, and then raising his head, he will be able
to throw N lightly over himself.
 The Thirteenth Part
No. 1. On strongly gripping Shoulders and Neck, with Leg-sweeps

When N and O have gripped each other at the upper part of the arms by the shoulders,
they both wrestle to weaken the other above, then seeking the legs below, and if N
through greater strength is able to bend or push O over to the side, he takes this opportunity to
sweep the right leg of O with his left foot.

2.

But O is expecting this, and raises his leg so N's foot misses and passes under it, upon
which O places his raised foot behind the leg of N, of which the foot tried to sweep him,
as then he has a chance to sweep this, and throw N down.
 3.

This N will prevent by letting go of O's arm with his right hand, and grabbing the left
shoulder with it inside the arms, then quickly throwing his left arm around O's neck,
forces him down, having placed his left behind the same leg of his opponent, thus pushing
him backwards.

4.

As O feels that he can not remain standing, lets go completely his left hand from N's
shoulder, and with his right hand lowered to the hips of N, he drops down on the left
knee and grasps with his left hand the lower leg of N, above the right foot, and holding
this, throws him by pushing back his upper body with the right hand.
 5.

This last technique is special, in that it allows one to quickly throw ones opponent, without
effort; here O, standing close to N, strongly places his left foot behind the left leg of N
and quickly grabs his throat over his arms, throwing him grandly on the back.

Ende

Credit for source and translation:

Dragon Preservation Society

The ARMA Group

This free printable document was created by Tyrone Artur Budzin and should in no way be
used for commercial purposes or personal gain/profit. Thank you.